Novak Djokovic reaffirmed his dominance at Melbourne Park with a stunning late-night triumph over rising star Carlos Alcaraz.
In the latest chapter of a generational rivalry that has played out on the biggest stages, including last year’s Paris Olympics gold medal match-up, it was the 37-year-old Djokovic who maintained his hardcourt dominance over Alcaraz with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win.
Defeat was a blow for the 21-year-old Spaniard as the French Open and Wimbledon champion’s bid to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam went up in flames and he was left to digest his third loss to Djokovic on the surface.
Some loose shots at the start of the match put Alcaraz on the backfoot but he fired a magnificent backhand winner to pull back a break and was rock solid from there, vaulting to a 5-4 lead in a physical opening set after Djokovic made an error.
Having dropped his serve for a second time, Djokovic took an off-court medical timeout and returned with his left thigh taped up, but the seventh-seeded Serb could not prevent Alcaraz from holding to love with a big ace at the end to clinch the set.
Djokovic was far more aggressive in the second and made several forays toward the net to reel off the first three games before producing a spectacular backhand overhead smash assisted by the net cord at one point but Alcaraz pulled level at 3-3.
The momentum shifted again as Djokovic heaped the pressure on the third-seeded Spaniard with heavy ball-striking to claim the second set and drew massive cheers from the Rod Laver Arena crowd when he broke for a 4-2 and then a 5-3 lead in the third.
Playing like a much younger version of himself, 10-times Melbourne Park champion Djokovic showed surgical precision to claim the set before breaking early in the next one to tighten his grip on the match.
Alcaraz won a 33-shot rally to rescue a break point while down 4-2 in the fourth set and smiled as he gasped for air but Djokovic used all his experience to seal the victory and set up a meeting with second-seeded German Alexander Zverev.